Some things are worth the wait, but a table at a crowded restaurant is rarely one of them.

The food and experience has to be outstanding if I am going to wait more than 10-15 minutes to be seated. Sure, there are a few restaurants in Chicago, New Orleans and New York where I have gladly waited for a table, but who wouldn’t wait patiently for one of Rick Bayless’ blood orange margaritas at Frontera in the Windy City? Or the fried chicken at Willie Mae’s Scotch House in Nola? Worth the wait every time. Otherwise, you’re going to find me at home on a Friday night, cooking away the week’s stresses and relaxing into a weekend groove. It’s not easy for me to shift from work week to weekend, and I’ve found that time in the kitchen helps, especially if it involves lots of chopping.

Tonight we’re making my older son’s favorite: Mongolian Beef. Will requests this recipe more than anything else I make. It does take a bit of prep work, but it’s the perfect time to pour a glass of wine, turn on some music and let the kitchen do its magic.

Directions:For the sauce, add oil to a medium saucepan over low to medium heat. Don’t let the oil get too hot before adding the ginger and garlic to the pan. Stir for 5 seconds and quickly add soy sauce and water. You want the oil to capture the flavors of the garlic and ginger, but if you’re not careful the garlic will burn and turn bitter.

When heated, add the brown sugar and raise the heat to allow the sauce to boil for 5 minutes, or until slightly thickened. Set aside.

Slice the flank steak by tilting your knife at a 45° angle against the top of the steak. This allows you to get wider, flatter pieces of meat. Dip each piece into the cornstarch, allowing just a thin layer to adhere. Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a wok or skillet until hot, but not smoking.

Add steak to the oil and flash sauté for no more than two minutes. Do not overcook. Flank steak is tough when well done, and these thin pieces don’t take long at all. Remove steak from wok or skillet using a slotted spoon, and drain on paper towels. Discard hot oil properly.

Return the wok and steak to the stove. Add the sauce and stir-fry for one minute until well coated and heated through. Add green onions and cook 1-2 more minutes.

In my house of teenage boys, quantity is just as important as quality when it comes to getting food on the table each night. I had no idea how much they can eat!

The other night I fed them flank steak, sweet potatoes, green beans and rolls. I went to bed before them, and when I woke up the next morning, I found pasta leftover in the refrigerator and pots and pans strewn everywhere.

It seems the two of them decided to make spaghetti as a midnight snack and ate almost the entire batch. The boys can eat more in one meal than I do in three days!

Trying to fill them up without fattening them up is not easy to do. We are on the go so much with baseball and football, and unfortunately, fast food is part of our life at times. When we are home, I really want to make sure their meals are as nutritious as possible, while also being delicious!

This meat loaf recipe is not only healthier for you, I can happily tell you it is teenage boy-approved! No one noticed the changes, and no one felt like they were being deprived from their usual weeknight favorite. I also love the recipe because it makes enough for leftovers or midnight snacks!

Now to be clear, I’m not talking about the heavily breaded “parts is parts” chicken nuggets you get through your car window from fast-food joints. My love comes from the homemade kind – big chunks of white-meat chicken carefully dipped and double-dipped before frying to make a crispy, juicy one-bite wonder. There’s just something about the miniature size, along with homemade dipping sauces, that make chicken nuggets a fun food for all ages to enjoy.

But at my house, I try not to fry our food very often, unless it’s okra season of course and then all bets are off. Otherwise, I have worked to turn my traditional fried recipes into baked ones without sacrificing any flavor or texture.

My family’s favorite baked chicken nugget (or tender if you prefer a bigger size) uses a triple-dip process to get the crispy crunch without having to fry in oil. The flour, egg and breadcrumb coating also seals in the chicken’s delicious juices.

I love serving these with spicy ketchup or a jalapeno Ranch-style dressing.

Directions:Preheat oven to 425°F. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine Panko with Parmesan, herbs and a dash of salt. Drizzle oil over and stir well to combine. Place flour and eggs in two separate dipping bowls as well.

I’m not a sports fan unless someone I love is playing in the game. This limits me to my sons’ school events and a lot of t-ball and church-sponsored basketball, which just might be the best of all there is to see. When the idea of getting a snowcone is more important than running up the score, I definitely become a big fan.

But the reality is I live in a house with three sports nuts and ESPN is our home’s background soundtrack a lot of the time. And try as a might, the only time ESPN interests me is when they get up close and personal with the players, telling us their favorite foods, where they volunteer, and how they fell in love with their wife of 35 years and spend all their free time with their 2.5 shiny children.

On a side note, ESPN is missing out on a huge opportunity to reach a larger audience by not having a sports show from a sappy woman’s point of view. Just saying.

Right now we’re in the throes of the basketball championships, and our TV is on 24/7 getting ready for the Final Four. There’s no game on tonight, but it doesn’t matter. We’ll be home watching because the sports channels are as good as the political pundits when it comes to filling hours upon hours with color commentary.

I may not watch the game, but I am definitely in charge of concessions – which is a huge job in a house of teenage sons. Tonight, I’m making these flank steak nachos marinated in Dr. Pepper.

Dr. Pepper was created in Waco, Texas, which just happens to be home to a women’s team I do love. Sic ‘em!

Directions:Combine flank steak and Dr. Pepper or Coca-Cola in a large Ziploc bag. Refrigerate at least 6 hours.

When you’re ready to make the nachos, heat your grill to high. Combine salt, brown sugar and black pepper. Remove steak from marinade, and rub spices into steak. Grill steak 3-4 minutes on each side until medium-rare. Do not overcook. Let steak rest 5 minutes before slicing against the grain into ½-inch wide strips and again into bite-sized pieces.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°F. Place corn chips on cookie sheet in one layer. Combine black beans with cumin. Spread small amount of black beans over each chip. Sprinkle cheese over chips. Top with flank steak. Bake 5 minutes until cheese is bubbly. Remove and serve with sour cream, jalapenos, salsa and guacamole.

Have you ever wondered how much saturated fat is in your ground beef? Or which has more protein_ ground chicken or ground turkey?

Until recently, if you wanted to answer these questions you had to dig in and do your own research. But now all you have to do is pick up a package at the grocery store.

For decades, virtually all packaged foods sold in the U.S. have been required to have a nutrition label, indicating ingredients and content of fat, protein, fiber and nutrients. This is due to the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990. Restaurant meals and some fresh foods were exempted.

But now, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has made it mandatory that 40 of the most popular cuts of meat also include a nutrition label on the package or the package display.

The label will allow you to pick meat based on the amount of calories, saturated fat, cholesterol, protein, sodium and iron. It will also serve as a reminder for the proper serving size of meat.

The most important part of the nutrition label is not how much fat is in the product or how many calories it has – it’s the serving size. The serving size lets you how much of a product you can have for x amount of calories. Many of us forget a serving of meat is only 4 ounces. Seeing the numbers will allow you to see how important that serving size is for weight management.

The part of the label that really helps open my eyes is seeing the % Daily Value. Let’s take a look at 80% lean ground beef’s nutrition facts panel. There are 9 grams of saturated fat in a serving. Not so bad, right? Well, if you slide your finger over you will see that is 43% of the daily value of saturated fat you can have during a single day, based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Seeing the % Daily Value really opens your eyes to what you are eating.

Now there is no need to guess how many calories are in your meat. You can look at the labels right in the store to make an informative choice for your family.

It’s amazing how much weather affects our feelings. I don’t know how people in places like Buffalo or Chicago survive their winters, rarely glimpsing the sunshine or enjoying outdoor fun several months of the year.

I love the fact that in our part of the country it’s not unusual to be in shorts in the middle of January, and by March, my kids are ready to swim.

One of the first things we like to do when the sun hits the sky is to eat outdoors as much as possible. We might pack a picnic for the lake or simply sit on the patio with friends and enjoy the first blue skies and gentle breezes of spring.

I grew up in a time when warm-weather picnics meant fried chicken – no questions asked…but these days, fried food is not something I want to feed my family very often. We still have my cast-iron, buttermilk-brined fried chicken every now and then in the summertime during fried okra season, but otherwise, I have tried to find healthier ways to enjoy the crunch and juiciness of good ol’ picnic fried chicken.

This fried chicken recipe is actually baked, but you won’t miss a thing. It’s the perfect recipe when you have half a bag of corn chips left in the pantry and need to use them before they get stale. Don’t leave out the cumin and chili powder…you’ll love the flavor and aroma.

And just like the real deal, these drumsticks are also delicious the next morning when you open the fridge looking for that one piece of leftover cold fried chicken, although from experience, I can tell you that you might want to double the recipe if you’re planning on enjoying any leftovers.

Directions:Preheat oven to 450°F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Place corn chips, 2 teaspoons chili powder, cumin and salt in a food processor and pulse until coarsely ground, then transfer to a shallow dish. Whisk egg and remaining 2 teaspoons of chili powder together in a bowl big enough to hold one drumstick. Dip drumsticks in egg and allow excess to drip back into the bowl. Coat with crumbs, turning and pressing crumbs to help them stick. Place on baking sheet. Bake until cooked through, about 40 minutes. Easily doubled.

I would like to pretend that I get dinner on the table for my family every night…and on time. But if your life is anything like mine, then there are simply some evenings that supper arrives in a sack through my car window. It’s just the way it is.

But I don’t want to be a fast-food family all the time. Yes, it takes some planning on my part, and yes, some nights don’t go as I hope and I end up alone in the kitchen with nothing but dirty words and dirty dishes.

These are the nights I try to remember how cute my teenagers were before they decided that I know nothing about anything.

But for the most part, I have found that some my family’s best conversations and laughter happen around our dinner table. One of my family’s favorites is this quick, delicious recipe for Orange Glazed Pork Chops. This week, the Hormel Pork Chops and Food Club Orange Juice are on sale in all Brookshire’s, making this an even better deal for your family.

The sauce is delicious on hot, cooked rice, and I usually just steam some fresh broccoli to serve with it…which happens to also be on sale this week.

Our motto at Brookshire’s is “Share meals. Share life.” There’s something about coming together at the end of our day in a place where we can let our guard down and enjoy a good meal together that gives us all a much-needed sense of security in this crazy world.

One of the only downsides about being a chef is that no one ever wants to invite me over for dinner. I guess everybody assumes that I’ll go all Gordon Ramsey on them, criticizing their chopping technique and refusing to eat anything that doesn’t meet chef standards, whatever those may be.

The reality is A. I’m always happy when someone else does the cooking and B. I eat pretty much anything, as long as it’s good. In fact, at home, we eat a lot of simple dishes, especially in the winter – soups, casseroles and even one-dish meals. Even a chef doesn’t want to spend hours cooking every night.

This casserole is one of those simple dishes, a kind of Tex-Mex take on chicken lasagna. It has a lot of flavor, but uses short-cuts (canned beans, prepared chicken broth and cooked rotisserie chicken) so you can get dinner on the table without laboring too long in the kitchen.

Directions:Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees.

Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat until hot. Add onion and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add chicken broth and bring to simmer.

I am so excited about this weekend! It’s going to be all about sports. I am going to my favorite baseball team’s fan fest, a basketball game and a hockey game. There is one food I must have while watching a sports game – a hot dog. Last year when the Packers played the Steelers I made these mini hot dogs and they were a hit.

According to a 2008 poll conducted by the National Hot Dog & Sausage Council, 63% of fans listed hot dogs as the food they could not live without at the ballpark. The same poll reported that 88% of sports fans have eaten a hot dog in the past year or will eat a hot dog in the upcoming year at a sporting event.

So do your part in helping the hot dog reign supreme at your next sports-watching bash.

If you overindulged both diet-wise and budget-wise over the holidays, it’s time to get back on track. So we are helping out with some terrific buy-one, get-one-for-1-cent deals this week at your neighborhood store.

And that includes some staples that will help both your wallet and your waistline, like Pilgrim boneless skinless chicken breasts. Buy a package, get another for a penny. And because the skin – by far the fattiest, most calorie-laden part of poultry – has already been removed, you start out with a lean, protein-dense main ingredient.

Or, here’s a simple baked chicken recipe that gets lots of flavor, but not too much fat, from Parmesan cheese and garlic. Pair with rice pilaf, a green vegetable, and fruit for dessert, and you won’t break the budget OR your diet.

In saucepan over low heat, melt butter. Add minced garlic and saute until soft, two-three minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for five minutes. Add lemon juice, four tablespoons parmesan, parsley, chili flakes if using, and a dash of salt and pepper. If mixture is too thick, thin with a little water or chicken broth.

Spray a baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Place chicken breasts in pan and pour butter-lemon-parmesan mixture over them. Bake for about 20-25 minutes; remove from oven and sprinkle with remaining two tablespoons of parmesan cheese. Bake for another 5-10 minutes, or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of breast registers 165 to 170 degrees.